Weather News

Warm night ahead of scorching day for parts of NSW

With heatwave conditions currently being experienced over much of central and eastern Australia, it should come as no surprise that parts of New South Wales had their warmest night in quite some time.

A low pressure trough transporting heat from the interior is leading to extremely hot days, while just enough tropical mid-level moisture is contained within the system to make evenings and the overnights feel irritatingly warm.

Places such as Scone, Lostock and Condobolin had their warmest night of any month since 2013. Many other inland locations such as Parkes, Gulgong and Cobar had their warmest night since late in 2014.

For the month of January, locations within the Hunter such as Scone, Tocal and Newcastle all had their warmest night since 2013. Parts of Sydney also experienced their warmest January minimum since 2011, with Richmond and Penrith both only dropping down to 23 degrees.

A hot Thursday followed by another uncomfortably warm night is likely for much of the state. Most locations in the Upper Western should exceed 40 degrees, while the Bourke area should reach the mid forties.

Heat is likely to peak on Friday, when most areas west of the ranges will exceed 42 degrees. Although heatwave conditions are likely to contract to mostly the northeastern parts of the state with the trough by early next week, most towns north of Griffith should still see daytime temperatures above 38 degrees, with minimum temperatures unlikely to fall below 22 degrees. It's therefore possible that more record-breaking evening temperatures could be seen over the next couple of days.

These conditions are consistent with the seasonal outlook for eastern Australia, which has been forecast to experience above-average maximum and minimum temperatures well into March. Nights in particular are likely to be very warm, bringing little relief from daytime discomfort.